Fitz Jenő (szerk.): The Celts in Central Europe - István Király Múzeum közelményei. A. sorozat 20. A Pannon konferenciák aktái 2. (Székesfehérvár, 1975)

B. Jovanović: The Scordisci and their art

Among the grave findings was a very damaged bronze bracelet with broadened terminals which were decorated with a complex, impressed, rosette design. At first one might associate this with similar jewelry found on Scordisci territory in the first century BC and the first century AD because of the broadened terminals and the working of the central section. Most probably though, the bronze bracelet from At derives from preceeding types of bracelets because there is little similarity with the jewelry types extant in Dacian territory at that time(30).

The most significant finding from this grave, as we noted above, is the hollow bracelet with broadened terminals finished off in the form of a seal (fig. 19a, h). This was hammered out of silver sheeting and decorated with double animal heads. The form of the At bracelet is characteristic of jewelry of the early and middle La Tène in the Pannonian and Danube areas, which in this case indicates an exceptional persistence of this shape among the Scordisci. With respect to composition, the double animal heads on the terminals of the bracelet are akin to early La Tène works of art although these often represented a human face. Animal heads were often used on the handles of metal pots and on fibulas and may have served only as a stylistic model for the silver bracelet from

At(31).

Braceltes with terminals in the form of a serpent head are also associated with the Balkan-Danube region, where they were widely produced at the end of the early Iron Age. These were generally solid cast articles with the exception of the pair of silver sheet bracelets from Prilep (Macedonia) bearing stylized snake heads which can be compared to the molded fantastic heads on the bracelet from At(32). No twisted silver bracelet, with or without the broadened terminals associated with the Dacians or even with the Scordisci (the hoard from Kovin) is satisfactorily analogous to the specimen from the cremation grave et Vrsac-At(33).

Only the solid cast silver bracelets from Huşi (Romania) with their broadened terminals bearing incised animal heads might be compared to the masks on the At bracelet. On the other hand, the terminals of the Huşi bracelets overlap and the entire body of the bracelets is decorated with the ribbed design typical of that area. The Huşi findings date from before the middle of the first century BC, which makes them somewhat more recent than the grave findings from At(34).

(30) J. Todorovu':, Rospi Cuprija, nécropole de l’epoque de La Tène a Beograd. Inv. Arch., VI, 1963, Pl. 52/1 ; I). Berciu, o. c., 194.

(31) J. Meoaw, Two La Tène finger rings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: an essay on the human face and Early Celtic Art. PZ, XLIII /XLIV, 19115/ 190(1, 1/2, 146; T. Powell, Les Celtes. Paris, 1901, 70.

(32) D. GaraSanin, o. c., 40, PL XXIII, 1 -4.

(33) II. Daicovicitt, Dacia de la Burebista la cucerirea Romană. Cluj, 1972, 268, fig. 51,1.

(34) G. Severeanu, Trésor de Huşi. Bucureşti, I, 1935, 26, Pl. II, 9 — 10; B. Brukner, Prehistoric Art in Vojvodina. Prehistory of Vojvodina, (in print).

In short, the silver bracelet from At derives its shape and design from Celtic art: work in silver sheeting and modelled masks may be a sign of Dacian influence, and the hammered technique and the choice of zoomorphic design is close to the Illyrian-Pannonian traditions developed in the early Iron Age. These different features are merged, however, in a new style and composition, free of the strict abstraction of the La Tène mask. Yet the schematic treatment of the animal heads of similar Illyrian and Dacian jewelry has been supplemented here with an imaginative plastic style that flourished in the Carpathian Basin during the second century BC (fig. 18—19).

According to this analysis, the At bracele sufficiently illustrates the basic features which one must expect in Scordisci art work, demonstrating its complex origin and composite character. The bracelet is therefore a product of one of the workshops within this tribal community or in the immediate surroundings ( Dacian ? ) ; but even so, it must have been worked in accordance with the artistic tastes of the Scordisci, probably in the latter half of the second century BC.

The final picture of the art work of the Scordisci is still far from definitive, but the recent findings nevertheless reveal its basic features. It was stated earlier that these features are the product of local traditions combined with the new, uniform La Tène culture and not an indication of the existence of an independent and original style. These features represent the influence of local surroundings at the height of the early old Iron Age (Illyrian-Pannonian) and their effect did not cease throughout the existence of this tribal alliance. In the final phase of the relatively short-lived independence of the Scordisci, the influence of a strengthened Dacian state grew stronger, although this influence was present even earlier, probably since the second half of the second century BC.

Thus Illyrian and Pannonian art bequeathed the technique of hammering gold or silver sheets, the use of filligree(35), and the crafting of the standard pottery types whose polished decoration evolved to a complex geometrical ornamentation pattern.

The Dacian influence is evident in the silver working technique, the production of certain types of silver jewelry (the astragal „Jarak” fibula), and in the large-scale production of handmade pottery but with a narrower choice of shape and ornamentation (incision and garland-frieze applique).

At the same time emphasis should be placed on the predominant role of La Tène art in the culture of the Eastern Celts. Most important were jewelry making using metals or glass paste, the engraving and plastic modelling of weapons and ceramics, and the use of painting and pictorial representation on pottery.

(35) I. Hunyady, Die Kelten irn Karpatenbecken. Diss- Pann, 11/18, 1944, Pl. II—IV; Dj. Mano-Zisi - Lj. Popovic, Novi Pazar. Beograd, 1969, 50; M. Djuknié-B. Jovanoviö, Illyrian princely necropolis at, Atenica. Caöak, 1966, 13.

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